Midwest Communications
PEORIA, Ill. The Peoria City/County Health Department Monday announced 730 new cases of COVID-19 in the tri-county area, including 11 deaths.
Nine of the 11 deaths occurred in Peoria County, with the other two occurring in Tazewell County.
The Peoria County deaths were as follows: two males in their 70s, two females in their 80s, two males in their 80s, a female in her 80s who resided at Cornerstone, a male in his 90s who resided at Lutheran Hillside Village and an additional person who had no information provided at the time of the health department’s news release.
In Tazewell County, a male in his 80s and a male in his 60s who resided at Aperion Morton Villa died from complications due to the virus.
PEORIA
Peoria County needs to explain why information regarding restaurants’ possible violations of indoor dining rules aren t being released to the public, said an attorney with the Illinois Press Association.
Don Craven, who has spent years working with the state s Freedom of Information Act, said the burden is not on the media or public to explain why they want the records, but rather on the county itself to say why the records shouldn t be released. And the Springfield attorney explained why there may be a “hodgepodge” of different practices around the state.
His comments come after Peoria County officials earlier this month denied both a Journal Star reporter s request and a Freedom of Information Act filing by the paper seeking the names of restaurants and bars submitted by citizens through the Health Department s complaint process, and whether they have received citations by the Health Department or been referred to State s Attorney Jodi Hoos for enforcement of an
PEORIA While many drugs have special storage requirements, Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is particularly challenging.
With a storage temperature of as low as minus 90 degrees Celsius, or minus 158 degrees Fahrenheit, the vaccine is forcing major purchases ultra-cold freezers that typically cost between $10,000 and $15,000.
Both hospital systems in central Illinois acquired the ultra-cold freezers months ago in an effort to be prepared when the vaccine began arriving.
Area health departments have also made plans for vaccine storage. Peoria County will rely on the freezer at OSF HealthCare Saint Francis Medical Center, while Tazewell County has purchased a 3 cubic foot unit. Woodford County is also working to get a unit, with hopes that it will arrive in January, said spokeswoman Andrea Ingwersen.
Top Regional News: Vaccinations at Peoria-area nursing homes to begin late December, early January
Delaware News Desk
Vaccinations at Peoria-area nursing homes to begin late December, early January
PEORIA About 1,260 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have already been administered to frontline workers since the vaccine arrived in Central Illinois Tuesday, and vaccinations at area nursing homes will likely start in the last week of December.
“The goal is that, in the last week of December, they will start rolling out across the state and really pick up speed in the first part of January,” Monica Hendrickson, the Peoria City/County Health Department administrator, said during a press conference Thursday.